Railway-car loader



JOHNSON Agg. Y'7, 1923.

RAILWAY CAR LOADER Filed June 14'. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet l l rO C.)

l l l 54 ucml'foc um Y@ MSL W f J3 Aug. 7, 1923. 1,464,003

J. H, JOHNSON RAILWAY CAR LOADER Filed June 14,- 1922 5 Sheets-Sleeil 2Aug. 7, 1923. v1,464,003

J. H. JOHNSON RAILWAY CAR LOADER Fled June 14, 1922 5 sheets-sheet i@Zf/ f7 6v 6., y L

vAug. 7; 1923';

` J. H. JoHNsoN RAI LWAY CAR LOADER Filed June 14,

5 sheets-sheet 4 Aug. 7, 1923. 1,464,003

l J. H. JOHNSON RAILWAY CAE LOADER Filed June 14, 41922I 5 sheets-sheet5 @ibm/1 my Patented Auw. 7, llFEliv JOHN l". JOHNSON, OF CHARLESTON,SUTLTTH CAROLINA, ASSGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO THOMAS NIARKS,

ARLESTON, SOUTH CARLNA.

RAILVYAY-CAR LOADER.

Application led June 14, 1922. Serial NQJEBSJGI.

To all whom t may concern:

rie it known that l, Jij/HN H, JoHNsoN, a cltircn of the United Sta-tesof America, re-

siding' at Charleston, in the county of 5 Charleston and State of SouthCarolina,

hive invented certain neiT and useful lmprovements in Railway-CarLoaders, of which the following' is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in railway Car loadersadapted especially for use with ditching machines, for scoopinov up orreceiving' the plowed mate* rial and loading;- .Jaid material Vupon adirt car from whence it is late dumped or otherwise emptied. Theinvention contemplates ar. equipment to be carried by any well knowntype of standard railroad dump car, and to follow a ditching' machinecarried by receding railway car which is adapted to plow the dirt at theside of the railway road bei. in the formation of the standard ditches.Two or more of die dirt cars are utilized to follow the ditchingv carand the work train is pushed or pulled by a locomotive whereby the ditchis plowed, the material .is gathered by the :succeeding car loader',conveyed alongs side the ear and dumped or deposited in the interior ofthe car from the conveyer or conveyors carried by saidcar,

The equipment as utilized on the railway dump car is adapted to conformto the requirements as to dimensions of standard railroads; may befolded or stored within the required limits on the railwaycar fortransportation. or to permit passage of the regular railway traiiic, andis operated by the nwving car which thus becomes self-loading, z d fromwhich the material may be dumped or otherwise disposed of in suitablemanner.

is embodied in my invention the construetion and operation of theequipment is greatly simplified over devices heretofore used for similarpurposes, the cost of construction, operation and' maintenance arematerielly reduced, and both time and labor are,

series have been omitted in the interest of convenience of illustration,but it will be understood that the invention embodies all the featuresnecessary for the practical application of the principles of myinvention.

ln the drawingsty Figure l is a viewin side elevation showing thegeneral assembly of parts involving a ditching;` car and a rear loadingcar for plowing:` and gathering' the plowed material at the richt sideof the railway track.

F ipgure 2 is a detail sectional view, transversely of a railway car,showing the con veyer carried at oneside thereof, and in inoperativeposition, as for transportation.

Figure 3 is a detail, top plan view partly in section of one of theLl-shaped stirrups and its hinge for supporting the conveyor at the sideof a car.

Figure 4 is `an enlarged, detail view in` side elevation, showingV thefront end of the convever. the elevator, the front scoop and suppermeans therefor'carried by the ditching car in front of the loading car.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the parts of Figi. le, some parts being`omitted for convenience of illustration.

Figure 6 is an elevation at the rear end of the loading' car, showingthe operating means for the conveyer.

Fin-ure 7 is a detail view at the front of the scoop, showingl thesupporting frame in section carried by the plow or ditching car in frontof the loadingy car.

l'iigure 8 is a view in side elevation at the rear end of the loadingcar, showing the truck and wheels in dotted lines.

Figure 9 is an enlarged, transverse sectional view atline 9 9 of Figure8.

F igure l0 is an enlarged, sectional View of one of theconveyer-supporting brackets at line 10-10 of Figure 8.

F iguro ll is a detail view partly in section showing' the manner ofmounting` the driving shafts for the conveyor. i

Figure 12 is a transverse sectional view at line l2-l2 of Figure l1.

in. the assembly view of Figure l the relation of parts may beunderstood and their functions ascertained by reference to the severalparts as a whole which comprise the equipment. rlhe dirt loading car lis of standard form for a railway dump car, and of course has the usualtrucks and wheels, as 2, one of the wheels, or rather its axle beingutilizedV for operating the loading machine as will be described. Theforward car designated as is a standard flat car with wheels l and thecars 1 and 3 are coupled together to be pushed or pulled by a locomotivefor the ditching and loading operations. A plow is indicated at 5 andcarried by the car 8, and this plow and connections form the subjectmatter of a copending application for patent Ser. No. 508,102, le'd Jan. 1st, 1922, wherein the details of construction are more elaboratelyillustrated.

rlhe loading equipment comprises a front scoop 6V and hopper 7,supported from the ditching car as will be explained, an elevatordesignated as a whole by the numeral S and a conveyor carried by theloading car and designated 9. The scoop follows the plow 5 and gathersthe plowed material, passing it to the hopper '7, where the niaterialiscaught by an endless conveyor and elevated to the coni/*eye'r 9 and asthe material passes longitudinally of the car it is dumped or guided tofall into the interior c of the dump car 1. The conveyor and elevatorare operated from the driving mechanism designated as a whole by thenumeral 10, at the rear end of the loading car.

One ortwo of the conveyors may be utilized as desired, one located ateach side of the loading car, and these conif'eyers, which, when inwo'rl'iing position are supported and suspended along the top ofthe carat its sides, may be folded bodily, or lifted over into the cai by meansof derricks or cranks 11, '11, near the ends of the car. The ditch ingcar also carries derricks or cranes 12, 12, for manipulating theditching plow and its supporting frame and the scoop and elevator. Thehoisting mechanism of the derricks or cranes may be manually operated,or may be power operated, as by air engines.

inasmuch as the description of one loading equipment is the same as theother, reference will be made to the equipment illustrated as working atthe right hand side of the car, it being understood that thisdescription is applicable to the other loading and conveying mechanism.

rllhe endless conveyor which extends from the rear end of the loadingcar to the scoop i'ncludes an endless sprocket chaini of Y usual t nevwhich is snoported at the o aerating end on the driven sprocket wheelor drum 14, and .its front 'end on the guide wheel 15 (Figj 7) withinthe hopper 7. The lower flight of the endless convey r the workingflight and conveys the material 'to the rear or toward the rear of theloading ear, from Ithe elevator and hopper. le. suitable number ofupright scraper blades 16 are carried by the chain 13 to perform thefunction of buckets, and it will be apparent that these blades aredisposed. at an angleV to the path of travel of the blades, in orderthat the material conveyed may be shifted toward and into the inerior ofthe car 1. il. the front'of each scraper blade is attached by rivets aplate 17 and this attaching plate is fashioned with an upright rib 1Sextending the full height of the scraper blade and coupled to theendless chain 13. t its outer end, or the end remote from the chain 13,said rib has an extension or projection 19, beyond the edge of thescraper blade. The endless conveyer passes through a longitudinallyextending trough or housing 20 somewhat U-shape in cross section andprovided with a bottom 21 through which a central groove 22 entends as apath and guideway for the projections or guide lugs 19 of the scraperblades in their working passage.

The trough is also provided with a continuous, centrally slotted sheetmetal guide plate 23, near the top for the upper [iight of the conveyor,and intermediate diagonal, 'vertical and horizontal brace straps ofmetal form a lattice work as 24 for reinforcing the trough andmaintaining it in working` position. The conveyer trough is thusfashioned as a strong, durable, and comparatively light, metallicstructure that may with facility be moved from position of Figure totheworking position of Figure 9, by utilization of the de 1ricks 'l1 andtheir hoisting tackle.

When in working position of Figures 8 und i), the conveyor is suspendedand sup'- ported at the side of the car, designa-ted as a whole by thenumeral A series of U- shape stirrups 26 are utilized to suspend theconveyer, and these stirrups'are distributed or spaced at regularintervals. say 3 feet, along the side of the car as holders for thetrough. The stirrups are all hinged to the car, and each is fashionedwith a forked orV bifurcated head 27 that is perforated, and

adapted to straddle a guide beam 28. Each stirrup has a complementaryguide beam, extending transversely of the cai' and alliccd thereto insuitable manner, and the guide beam'is fashioned with a longitudinallyextending slot, which is disposed transversely of the car, anddesignated 29. l-linge pins 30 are passed through the bifurcated andperforated heads 27 and the slotted beams and Cotter pins or retainingpins 3l are used for holding the pins in place. @ne or more of thestirrups may be supplied with eye bolts 82 to which hooks of thehoisting tackle may be applied, and the cranes or derricks 11, 11, maybe used for manipulating the conveyor. By use of the crane the .stirrupswith their pins in the slots 29 may be slid horizontally andtransversely of the carin position of Figure 2, and when the pins reachthe ends of the slotted beams 28, the stirrups which now lll suspend theconveyor, swing over and downwardly into position of Figures 8 and 9,and the conveyor is thus suspended in working position.

The conveyor is also supported in working position by a series ofspaced, independent brackets, loc-ated below the conveyor, and indicatedby the numeral rlfhese brackets are foldable, and when not in use may beturned around parallel with the side of the car for transportationpurposes and to remove any obstructions from the side ofthe car. Eachbracket 33 is provided with a hinge sleeve for the hinge bolt or pin 35which is supported on and in the spaced eye members 36 afiiXed to thecar side. A suitable number of the foldable brackets are -providedbeneath the conveyer, which receive the weight of the conveyer whenlowered to working position, and relieve the stirrups of the strain ofthe entire load, thus distributing the weight between the suspendingstirrups and the supporting brackets. When not in use the brackets arefolded or turned around on their hinge pins parallel with the car side,and if necessary devices may be utilized for holding t-he brackets closeto the car wall.

Each of the endless conveyers is actuated by movement of the loadingcar1 andthey may be operated either singly or in pair from a drivingsprocket wheel 37 on one of the car axles as 38. A clutch device 39 isprovided on the axle by means of which the driving mechanism may beconnected and disconnected, and suitable operating means for the clutchwill of course be provided. A driving` sprocket chain 40 passes aroundthe driving sprocket 37 and over a driven sprocket wheel 4l on the powershaft The power shaft extends transversely of the car and is elevatedabove its deck with its journals in bearings 43 in a frame 44. Above thepower shaft are two countershafts 45 and 46 for driving the right handand left hand conveyors respectively, and these shafts are journaled inremovable or universal bearings 47 in the frame 44. As' the mainsprocket wheels and their shafts 45, 46, are foldable with the conveyormecha-y nism. rlhe inner bearings 47 .for the shafts 45 have removablecaps 47a and are provided with bushin es 47 b having trunnions 47 c inthe bearing. The outer bearingr caps 47 are hinged, in order that, afterthese` caps are swung upwardly from the shafts and the caps 47aNremoved, the shafts 45 and their respective sprocket wheels may be swungupwardly on the trunnions 47c as centers to bring` the sprocket wheelsto inoperative position within the sides of the car. The conveyer may bedisconnected from the sprocket wheels if necessary in such manner as isrequired to permit the swinging movement ofthe shafts.

The power shaft 42 has a pair of spaced,

Amain gears 48 revoluble therewith, and

these gears engagey pinions 49 forming members of clutch devices 50, 50on the respective shafts 45, 46. rlhe clutch mechanisms 50 are providedwith usual operating levers to throw them into and out of engagement inorder that the short shafts may be revolved from the power shaft, andthus, in addition to the main clutch 39 on the axle 38, 'either of thesetwo clutches 50 may be utilized, or both may be used to render theconveyers operative.

rlfhe conveyer extends alongside the car in an elevated position, andthe elevator 8 declines from the forward end, where it is jointed to theconveyer by hinge joints 51 and52, which may readily be connected ordisconnected for assembling the parts or for dismantling' the equipment.And the elevator" 8 through which the endless conveyor pas-ses is madeflexible by the use of metal straps 53 with loose pivot joints 54 inorder that it may be adapted with facility and maintained in properworking position for guid- .ing the endless conveyor. These metalsuspension straps connect the upper portion of the elevator with thelower trough portion 55 to form a stable support for the travelingmechanism of the conveyer.

At the lower or front end of the declining elevator 8 a shaft 56 .istransversely disposed and journaled therein for the guide sprocket wheel15 of the chain 13, and near the 'ends of this shaft guide wheels 57 maybe used to guide t ie blades of the conveyer as they pass around theshaft and scrape up the material from the bottom of the hopper 7.

The material of course is gathered at the front open end of the scoop`and at its rear end the scoopl has a. pair of side wings 58, verticallydisposed, to close the lateral opening and make connection between therear end of the scoop and its hoppen thus preventingloss of material.hinge joint 59 is provided in the bottom of the scoop at rear endbetweenthe scoop and the connection 58 to the hopper5y in order that theworkingl or forward end of the scoop may be elevated or lowered withrelation to the Aaround surface for gathering the material.

The scoop isof lll-shape with an inclined bottom and is suspended from aset of suspending rods 60 located preferably at its four corners, and attheir lower ends these rods are pivoted at 6l to the lower portion ofthe scoop, The suspending rods are vertically disposed and supported inbrackets 62 through which the upper threaded ends of these rods pass7and the threaded enos of the rods are equipped with hand wheels 63 bymeans of which the respective suspending rods may be raised or lowered.Thus by manipulating` the hand wheels the elevator7 hopper, and scoopmay be adjusted7 and the -the ditchingVV car and after the loadingmechanism hasv been detached therefrom, theV traine may be turned upover the side of the flat car 3.

At 66 in .Figure 4 a perforatedv lug is shown on the hopper 7 to whichthe hoisting -tackle of one ofthe cranes 12 be connected for raising orlowering the loading mechanism, and this tackle remains inplace tosupport the elevator and scoop while the equipment is working.

The material is carried to the rear by the angularly disposed scraperblades passing through the conveyer trough, and the action of the bladesresults in scraping or shoving theV material through an opening in theside of the car, where it is deposited in the bottom of the dirt car.This car may have the usual inclined bottom sections, and dump thematerial through open doorways at the sidesl of the car, or any othersuitable type of dirt car may be utilized.

One or more of the dirt cars may be used to convey the material, and insuch case the conveyers are connected between the cars to form acontinuous conveyer from end to end of the train. As many cars may beloaded as the engine can pull, the last car, as the car designatedrl,being Vequipped with the driving mechanism for the conveyer. while theirst car of the train is provided with the scoop and elevator portion ofthe conveyer. lhile the plowing device which precedes the loadingconveyer is shown herein as the subject matter of a co-pendingapplication for Patent Ser. No. 568,102, iiled June 14, 1922, it will beunderstood that any suitable type of plowing or ditching' inachine maybe used ahead of the loadingV cars, and in this manner Ythe ditch may beformed, the plowed material gathered, and

` loaded on the dirt train with practically one operation as thelocomotive pulls the train ahead.

After the ditching and loading operations have been completed, thebearings for the shafts 45 and 46 may be released, the scoop andelevator disconnected from the conveyer after removal of bolts 51 and52, and disconnection of the required links in the upper and lowerflights of the chain conveyer and stowed away on the ditching` car 3 bymeansof derrick 12, and then `the conveyer at the side of the car isswung onits hinge joints at27, to horizontal position, and slid inboardto clear the side of thecar as in Figure 2. Y

The cranes or davits 11 are of course removable and may be dismantledand stowedV the dirt car within the required dimensions forrailwaytraiic.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent ,is:-

l. The combination in a railway car loading equipment with a hinged,foldable trough and endless conveyer, of a detachable elevator at thefront end of said trough, and an adjustable scoop at the front end ofsaid elevator.v j

2. The combination in a railway car loading equipment with alongitudinally extending, hinged conveyer trough and an endless conveyertherein, driving mechanism car-.`

ried by the car and actuated from an axle thereof, an elevator at thefront end of the conveyer trough, and a scoop at the front of theelevator.

3. The combination in a railway ditching 4. In a railway ditching trainthe com-bination with a ditching `car and a loading` n car, or a hingedconveyer trough carried by the loading car, detachable elevatorconnected at the forward end of the trough between the two cars, anendless conveyer in said trough and elevator and driving mechanism forsaid endless conveyer actuated by movement of the loadingcar, a hingedscoop at the forward end of the elevator, and adjustable means on saidditching car for supporting said scoop.

5. The combination in a railway loading car with a side conveyer troughand conveyer mechanism therein, of spaced suspending stirrups each.having a hinged and sliding connection with the car, means fordisconnecting the conveyer mechanism., land means for swinging thestirrups and trough y upwardly and over the car to'inoperative position.i

G. The combination in a'railway loading car with a side conveyer trough,of spaced U-shaped suspending stiri'ups each iaving hinged and slidingconnection with the car, and means for swinging said stirrups and troughupward vand over the car to inoperative position.

7. The combina-tion in a railway loading car having slotted,transversely disposed guide plates, of a side conveyer trough, U-

shaped suspending stirrups for said trough having hinged slidingconnection with said guide plates, and means for swinging said stirrupsand trough upward and over 'the car to inoperative position.

8. The combination in a railway loading car having transverselydisposed, slotted guide plates, of a side oonveyer trough, .foldablebrackets attached to the car heneath the trough, suspending stirrups forsaid trough, hinged-sliding connections between said stirrups and guideplates, and means for swinging said stirrups and trough upward and overthe car to inoperative 10 position.

9. rlhe combination with a railway loading car, of a hinged and oldahleconveyer trough at the side of the car, an endless conveyer in saidtrough including angularly disposed scraper blades 'for passing materialinto the car, and means on said blades coacting with the trough forguiding said endless conveyer.

ln testimony whereof l have aixed my signature.

JOHN H. JOHNSON.

